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Biographies of Female Tennis Players

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R
#1 · (Edited)
This thread will feature biographies of women who played tennis at a world class level. Note that the women will be added as we find information, so they will not appear in alphabetical order.

To find women listed in alphabetical order please go to the Blast Encyclopedia of Female Tennis Players at http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?t=497938

The Blast Encyclopedia of Female Tennis Players lists women by both their maiden and married names. Under the main listing for a player a link will be provided back to this thread to a biography.
 
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#3,761 · (Edited by Moderator)
SWAN, GERTRUDE (Gertrude Amy Swan)
Australia
Born 21 July 1873 in Tasmania
Died 21 June 1964 in Tasmania
Did not marry.
[Active circa 1892-96]

A plaque on her gravestone gives her date of death, and her name as Gertrude Amy Swan. A 1914 census places her in Franklin.

Sources:

http://gravesoftas.com.au/Cornelian%20Bay%20Live/Church%20Of%20England/Section%20DD.htm
http://gravesoftas.com.au/Cornelian...u/Cornelian Bay Live/Church Of England/Images/C Of E/DD/5/Swan Gertrude Amy.jpg
http://gravesoftas.com.au/Cornelian...au/Cornelian Bay Live/Church Of England/Images/C Of E/DD/5/Swan Gertude Amy.jpg


[Thanks to Newmark for this information and to Rollo for the source links]
 
L
#3,764 · (Edited by Moderator)
DYAS, "EDYTH" (Mary Edyth Anne Dyas)
Ireland
Born 19 November 1873 in Heathstown House, Athboy, County Meath
Died 31 August 1908 in Liverpool
Married William Worth Deane in 1896 in Rathdown, County Wicklow
[Active circa 1892-98]

Popularly known as Edyth, this player was the elder sister of Ruth Dyas, one of the top Irish lawn tennis players during the early decades of the sport. Edyth did not take part in as many tournaments and did not have as much success on the court as Ruth.

Edyth and Ruth Dyas were two of the four children of Jacob Dyas, a justice of the peace (J.P.), of Heathstown House, Athboy, County Meath, and Sophia Dyas (née Barrett), who was a native of Woodlawn in County Galway. Jacob and Sophia had married each other on 4 June 1872 in Dublin.

[Thanks to Newmark for this information]
 
L
#3,766 · (Edited by Moderator)
PLUMENAIL, Mme Andree (nee Andrée ????)
(France)
Married Plumenthal by late 1930s.
[Active 1930s to at least 1947]

Active as late as 1947, when she appears in the doubles draw at Roland Garros. The NYT gives her name in 1946 as Andree Clumenail, but the Times often made errors with foreign names. Note the we also have Plumenthal as a possible name.
 
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#3,769 · (Edited by Moderator)
BRAGDON, CHRISTINE (Christine Roos Kanters)
United States
Born 28 July 1884 in Michigan
Died 16 April 1980 in Seattle
Married Roger Eben Bragdon on 23 June 1910 in Seattle
[Active circa 1910-25]

Christine (Kanters) Bragdon was the daughter of Abraham Kanters, a stockbroker and native of the Netherlands, and Mary Kanters, who was born in Michigan to Dutch immigrants.

Christine notably won the singles title at the Washington State Championships tournament in 1913 and was runner-up in the same event at the same tournament ten years later, in 1923.

[Thanks to Newmark for this information]
 
L
#3,770 · (Edited by Moderator)
LOBEL-MAHY, "CECILE" de (Hortense Marie Cécile de Marcé)
France
Born 4 December 1869 in Blois, Lois-et-Cher, France
Died 27 February 1911 in Seattle
Married Raymond de Lobel-Mahy on 6 February 1893 in Blois, Lois-et-Cher, France
[Active circa 1908-10]

Popularly known as Cécile, she was the daughter of Count Marie ‘Roger’ de Marcé and ‘Albine’ Lucie Marthe de Marcé (née Lemonnier). Robert de Lobel-Mahy was more than likely French Consul in Seattle at the time of Cécile’s untimely death in 1911. Her tennis activity was limited to the Pacific Northwest.

[Thanks to Newmark for this information]

Here is the de Lobel-Mahy family living in the fashionable Dublin suburb of Rathmines in the 1901 Census of Ireland. At this point in time Raymond de Lobel-Mahy was French Consul in the Irish capital: National Archives: Census of Ireland 1911
 
L
#3,771 · (Edited by Moderator)
PEAN, "ADRIENNE" (Marie-Adrienne Péan)
France
Born 19 July 1875 in Place Vendôme, Paris
Died 31 August 1958 in Saint-Julien-l'Ars, Vienne, Poitou-Charentes
Married Henry Claude Stresser on 25 May 1909 in Paris
[Active circa 1900-08]

Adrienne, as she was known to family and friends, notably won the mixed doubles event with Robert Wallet at the Closed French Championships in 1907; one year later she lost in the final of the singles event at the same tournament to Kate Fenwick by the score of 6-2 6-2. Sources tend to list her as Mlle A. Péan.

Adrienne was the youngest of the three daughters of Dr Jules Émile Péan, a distinguished surgeon, medical doctor and, later, Knight of the Legion of Honour, and Françoise Henriette Péan (née Girou de Buzareingues). All three of the girls had the first name Marie (Marie-Clémentine and Marie-Henriette being the other two).

Adrienne and her husband had three children – two boys, Jacques and Guy, and a girl named Christiane. As a tribute to their illustrious maternal grandfather, the children had the surname Stresser-Péan. Guy Stresser-Péan became a distinguished anthropologist, specialising in the culture of the Huastec people of Mexico. For more on Guy Stresser-Péan (in French), see here: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Stresser-Péan

Sources:

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Péan

[Thanks to Newmark for this biography. Newmark also wishes to thank François "for pointing me towards most of the above information".]
 
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#3,772 · (Edited by Moderator)
HUISKAMP, LAURA (nee Laura Eliza McVay)
United States
Born 8 December 1885 in Pennsylvania
Died 25 April 1943 in Iowa
Married Carleton Huiskamp on 30 October 1907 in Seattle
[Active circa 1908-12]

This player is usually referred to as “Mrs Huiskamp” in contemporary sources. Carleton Huiskamp was born in Iowa to Dutch parents. she was active mainly in the Pacific Northwest.

[Thanks to Newmark for this information]
 
L
#3,773 · (Edited by Moderator)
GOULD, FLORFENCE (Florence Evelyn Gould)
United Kingdom
Born 05 November 1871 in Sheffield, Yorkshire
Died
[Active circa 1892-1900]

Sister of fellow lawn tennis player Lionel Aubrey Gould. Florence enjoyed a good deal of success at the Boulogne-Sur-Mer tournament in the late 1890s. She might well have lived in France as an adult.

[Thanks to Newmark for this information]
 
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#3,774 · (Edited by Moderator)
KERSHAW, JESSIE
United States
Born in 1873 in Wisconsin
Died 15 August 1960 in Tacoma.

Did not marry.
[Active circa 1894-1915]

Jessie Kershaw was the daughter Charles Kershaw, a grain dealer and native of England, and Mary Kershaw (née Leavenworth), who was from Michigan. Jessie later served as Secretary, then President, of the Tacoma Lawn Tennis Club.
 
L
#3,780 · (Edited by Moderator)
BURRILL, HELENA (nee Helena Craig)
United States
Born 12 February 1860 in Pennsylvania
Died 27 April 1950 in Tacoma
Married William Vermilye Burrill on 16 November 1894 in Tacoma
[Active circa 1895-1905]

In contemporary sources Helena is usually referred to just as "Mrs Burrill" or "Mrs W. Burrill".

[Thanks to Newmark for this information]
 
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